Thameslink passengers are being urged to check before they travel this evening after an electrical fault with the infrastructure caused services to be seriously disrupted.

Trains from the south will be terminating at Blackfriars and trains from the north will be terminating at St Pancras International for the rest of today (Friday, October 21) and there will be fewer trains running than normal.

Network Rail engineers have been working through the afternoon to fix an electrical problem with the track at London Blackfriars.

Network Rail’s chief operating officer for the South East, Andy Derbyshire, said: “I’m really sorry that people won’t have an easy journey home this Friday night after a difficult week.

“My engineers have been working hard to get this problem fixed. We have completed repairs and we are now in the process of testing which will take some extra time.

“The railway between Blackfriars and St Pancras is vital to us running a reliable service and the length of the problem today means we simply cannot keep trains moving as normal.

“The best way to get everyone home tonight is to run this reduced service for the rest of today and I really appreciate everyone’s patience while we do that.”

Thameslink’s passenger services director, Stuart Cheshire, said: “Network Rail is working hard to fix the problem and we’re sending more staff to our stations to help passengers but we know it is going to be really busy and our customers will have difficult journeys home tonight.

“We have ticket acceptance in place with other operators and we urge passengers to check their alternative routes before they travel.”

Passengers needing to travel between Blackfriars and St Pancras International can use their tickets on London Underground and bus services.

Thameslink passengers may also use their tickets on London Buses, London Overground, London Underground or Southern services via any reasonable route and Great Northern services North of London, and South West Trains services in South London.

East Midlands Trains will also be accepting Thameslink tickets this evening.